It had felt like decades when in reality only a few short, turbulent years had passed. It all began with a new Emperor, aggressive and charismatic. He rearmed the Imperial war machine, seizing neutral territory and playing political games with the other major powers even reclaiming the lost territories of the Cyrillian Humiliation.

Then came a series of many regional conflicts, hardening the resolve of the citizens while the Emperor looked outward to expand his realm. Wars with the other factions and major powers soon followed, they either banded together or stood alone, accusing each other of foul play while the Emperor's forces devoured them.

The spear of the war machine was Falkyria zi Starkroße; personally leading the Empire in its victories. She soared through the ranks and now, finally with the rank of Grand Admiral she would absolutely destroy the last bastion of the Republic.

Malan Drayson stood silent and watched the Imperial Armada on the strategic holographic display draw closer and closer to the planet. As he watches, he dwells on past battles and wonders where it all went wrong, what possible linchpin could have set such a series of catastrophic events in motion. Was it the death of Commander Umbra at the Great Ambush at Woostri? S'vashi's demise at the hands of the bugs in The Geonosian Rebellion? Or perhaps it was the Chancellor constantly playing politics with an enemy hellbent of the destruction of the Republic.

No matter the cause, Malan felt he had done the best he could, even betraying his own principles and morals to do what had to be done. He had never been afraid of doing so, non the less he felt guilty about some of the things he had done. His order to orbital bombard Geonosis after the Army failed to pacify them in time before the next Imperial Assault. His failure in preventing the uncontrolled rout at Bestine that led to the loss of some of the Republics finest vessels and most experienced crew. And of course, the Eriadu coup. As stubborn as always the Chancellor refused to step down after the military had seized control of every other function in the Republic. In a display of whatever honor he still had at that point, he saw to it personally that she be removed.

He threw away his blaster after that, an unpleasant reminder. So after all he had done, did the ends justify the means? Damn straight it did... For a time at least.

In the end the early losses in the war followed by the Republic Senates inability to see the situation clearly, no matter how much he yelled at them; These events had started a domino effect from which there perhaps was no path to recovery.

Here at Mon Calamari the Core Fleet, made up of every single surviving vessels and even a few only partly constructed or repaired in a hurry for the last defense, was the only thing left. The Fleet WAS the Republic now, the men and women serving the last citizens. The Paladin, so far having survived through it all remained the Flagship, her hull covered in patchworks from her numerous visits to the repair yards.On her flanks was the ever stout defenders of the Nebula-Class Star Destroyers, mixed with Corona-Class frigates and Scythe-Class Cruisers. Endurance-class Carriers took up the rear and had already deployed Starfighters, Five Wings strong in numbers along with a Wing on bombers.

The fleet had taken position with the planet of Dac and the massive shipyards at its rear and her moon on the left flank but slightly in front of the fleet.

As was the custom for all major engagements, well, almost all of them anyway; the enemy was offered a chance to lay down their arms and surrender peacefully or be destroyed violently. Those were their only options as the fleet activated its gravity well generators.

Although the Empire's fleet was moving forward, not even the Sovereign's axial superlaser was in range. Not that it mattered, the weapon may be pin-point accurate but there were far too many Imperial ships which could be caught in a cross-fire. Each shot was precious; just because technology had caught up and made the design economically sustainable didn't make the ignition sequence any shorter. Careful targeting was called for, otherwise another vessel, be it friend or foe, could intercept the laser and waste the sequence.

The Sovereign and Armageddon made up the centre of the Imperial formation with several corvettes and frigates between them, five star destroyers were placed very slightly ahead of the two dreadnoughts from dagger tip to dagger tip. Less than a dozen corvettes alongside the five star destroyers.

Each flank had two battlecruisers, one at the very end of each flank and the other in the centre of its flank. The rest of the flank was made up of a pattern; a star destroyer, followed by three cruisers and then another star destroyer with three more cruisers on and on till it reached the outer battlecruiser. Corvettes formed a skirmishing line ahead and frigates a quick force behind.

Malan responded to the demand for surrender: "Are you trying to make a fool of us, or yourself? Stop pretending you are something you are not like a high class ***** and lets end this, one way or the other." He said as he ends communications and order the jamming of enemy transmission and the scrambling of sensors.

While neither his fleet nor the enemy's are yet in weapons range, the surface to space weapons were and opens fire. The first shot striking the enemy Battlecruiser on the enemy's furthermost right flank near the moon.

"So uncivilized," Falkyria remarks "and extremely typical." the reality of the matter was that for whatever absurd reason all who opposed the Empire always spat in the face of mercy, making the customary request fairly pointless. It was ridiculous that they even had hope to begin with, aside from several minor defeats and inconclusive battles the Empire has always triumphed. Yet, frustratingly, no one seems to be willing to lay down their arms and keep their lives.

Similarly the Imperial side activated its electronic warfare suite; sensor jamming, communication jamming, missile jamming and whatever else the fleet could do to counteract the Republic's last and best.

The Imperial force, including the now moderately damaged battlecruiser, begins to move forward as a whole, its strikecraft and corvettes should enter the range of the Republic's long-range weaponry but be far too small to effectively target and would be followed closely by the bigger starships anyway. The Empire's navy was, because of its size and formation, was wider than that of the Republic.

"Commence Phase I gentlemen." Drayson announces. The Republic fleet maintain their positions despite the risk of being outflanked on the right. Most deflector energy is routed to the forward deflectors and weapons are on standby.

Despite the first few targets coming into range of the Warlock-Class (OOC: For some reason I forgot about that ship. Its positioned near the carriers), they have orders to hold fire until their pre-determined targets come into range, once they do they open fire on the enemy Star Destroyers in the center.

The Nebula's start to move into an even tighter formation than before, along with the support ships, near the Paladin.

Before long, the Imperials may be able to detect that around forty ships have excited hyperspace some ways off the Republic right flank/Imperial left. Due to the heavy jamming, it may very well be impossible to get exact scans regrading ship class and to some extent even size until they are much closer.

The second volley of the hyper-velocity gun strikes the slow moving battlecruiser once more, crippling it. The warship is disabled and its sublight is disabled, yet it keeps moving forward under its own momentum albeit slowly. As a result it is left behind, much of the crew is ordered to evacuate to other nearby ships which slows down the Imperial right flank as other warships slow down to receive the evacuating crew.

Meanwhile, the left flank turns to face the new arrivals. As a result the Imperial formation as a whole turns from a line into an spearhead.

Finally, the centre ceases movement just as the Sovereign enters range for its superlaser. Star Destroyers clear out of the way as the weapon begins to charge up. It is likely the Republic's long-range weapons are now able to strike at the Empire's centre, albeit just barely.

The new arrivals stay just outside of weapons range on the Imperial left flank. The Republic fleet in the center begins to move forward, with the Paladin in the lead by some distance, and opens fire on the enemy Star destroyers in the center. The Hyper-velocity gun follows suit and targets one of them.The Starfighter and Bomber wings follow closely, but stay within the edges of the fleet as they approach.

Scythes and Coronas target the enemy Corvettes neatly lined up in the front and headed on a straight path towards them. Warlocks continue firing at their original targets.

Malan looks at the table as all possible information is relayed to it, and watches and everything unfolds. There is nothing left to do but gamble, to go all in. There would be no rematch after today unless they won. But as much as he has spent the last few weeks improving morale and trying to inspire the fleet and what was left of the army, he had as little hope left as they did. Despite the Imperial promises, surrender was simply not possible. he knew it, the fleet knew it, and the army knew it.

As such there was only one rule, one oath, one law that remained for them to hold onto.

The Sovereign fires its superlaser directed at the Paladin; provided it isn't intercepted by another sizeable warship it will destroy its target and any small attack craft along its path. Both dreadnoughts engage their long-range weaponry to the Republic's closing Scythes and Coronas.

On the left and centre flanks the Imperial formation holds having decided to let the Republic approach them. Meanwhile the right flank, having finished receiving the crew from the battlecruiser, moves forward to engage the Republic's left flank directly ahead of them. The extended line of the Imperial fleet will allow the right flank to envelop the Republic at a slow pace.

In the centre the corvettes take evasive action till enemy strikecraft enter combat range, at which point they engage them together with the Imperial strikecraft. Regardless of their numerical superiority, the Empire's wings and squadrons hold back for a bit longer; they wait for the Republic's forces to get closer so they can receive backup from the bigger ships in the Imperial fleet. Several fighters are tasked with intercepting Warlock warheads.

The Star Destroyers engage the Scythes and Coronas, their point-defenses lessen the damage from the Warlocks slightly but no amount of defenses can prevent one of the Star Destroyers from taking heavy damage from the Republic's hypervelocity gun, despite the damage the warship continues fighting. There is solace in the fact that as the fleets get closer to each other, the hypervelocity gun may have reduced effect due to the close proximity of the two fleets and risk of not just missing their target but striking a friendly vessel.

Unlike the Republic, the Empire wasn't concerned with friendly-fire and the Sovereign's superlaser had a slight edge due to being much closer to the action.

As a massive power buildup is detected on the Eclipse, a large freighter exits the Paladins main hanger and moves in front. The Paladin having been the expected target, is spared the superlaser as the freighter is hit instead. Scythes and Coronas makes good use of their speed and moves down steeply quickly to avoid the enemy firing arc and then resumes targeting the corvettes. The Paladin increases speed, albeit not on a ramming course.The Warlocks continue to fire the Aggrocite cannons at the Star Destroyers in the middle, but hold back their missiles.

On the Republic left flank, a third of the Republic fleet moves to engage the Imperials that have now resumed their advance on that side. They divert most of their power to the deflectors and hold the line. The fleet concentrate fire on the closest ships, in this case meaning the corvettes.

The Imperial corvettes in the center find that the evasive actions to only have a temporary effect as the Republic ships engaging them are forced to momentarily disengage, only to re-target them with a fury afterwards and with nothing but empty space to hide behind.

"Proceed to Phase II" Malan orders, and the signal swiftly given. As the Imperial force on the Republics left flank tries to encircle them despite there being a moon in the way, a hidden force enters to battle from hind the moon, now coming around slightly behind the Imperial flank. Two Silphen-Class battle cruisers peak out and immediately open fire on the Imperial ships. Flying very closely to the ground on the moon to lessen the chance of detection are a massive force of strikecraft, numbering 37 Wings of Crossfires and 6 Wings of K-Wing bombers along with over a hundred small transport shuttles. They all surge straight up into the middle of the Imperial flank, targeting shields, engines and reactors, the Crossfires aid against enemy starfighters as needed while the most focus on trench-runs or raiding alongside the bombers.

The Hyper-velocity gun fires again at the Star destroyers in the center.

Falkyria grits her teeth in slight irritation. Of course the Grand Admiral had expected the Republic to counter the Sovereign's attack but it still left a bad taste in her mouth. Luckily the weapon had already begun charging another attack and the flagship couldn't evade forever.

The Star Destroyers adapt to the change in plane and continue engaging their targets; the Scythes and Coronas. Now the Imperial strikecraft join the fray, twenty wings in all of various class. The fighters engage enemy strikecraft, running interception missions, screening friendly starships and escort Imperial bombers that perform their bombing runs on the Republic fleet here in the centre. On the Scythes they target the sides of the class, where defenses are known to be weaker. For Coronas they target engine and weapon hardpoints. Nexus corvettes they avoid unless absolutely necessary, in which case they target the bridge. Imperial corvettes are sent to combat the Republic strikecraft as well.

Another barrage of the Hyper-velocity gun finally finishes off the damaged Star Destroyer, reducing the centre's fighting capacity heavily if one didn't include the two dreadnoughts. Similarly to the Paladin, the Armageddon begins to move forward to reinforce the frontline and make up for the loss of a Star Destroyer.

The frontline centre forces receive reinforcements in the form of additional corvettes and several frigates which were placed between the two dreadnoughts beforehand. The frigates are to engage and counter the Coronas.

On the Imperial left flank nothing happens, with the notable exception of the few ships that are close enough to the Imperial centre that they are obligated to participate; the majority of the warships are in some ways pinned by the unknown forty starships. A pair of starfighters is sent to investigate and relay the nature of the presumed reinforcements.

Meanwhile, on the Imperial right flank, having expected Republic deception the Empire had deployed frigates to act as a fast moving rearguard. It is deployed to hold off the Republic while. Although the frigates aren't corvettes, their limited point-defenses along with thirty out of the forty wings of the Imperial right flank should be able to combat the Republic pilots at least until more and bigger antifighter weaponry are deployed. Several cruisers and Star Destroyers turn around to face the new arrivals, mostly those from the centre of the right flank.

Detecting another buildup the Paladin steers right very close to the Imperial Star Destroyers, with the Executor moving closer into the gab, it was soon in between the Ultra Star Destroyer and the Paladin, the Paladin now firing everything it has the SSD in an old fashioned broadside attack, while launching two hundred proton torpedoes targeting critical systems.

With the Paladin having moved aside, the Hyper-velocity gun opens fire on the superlaser weapons port on the USD.

As the Star Destroyers insist on following their targets, their noses start tipping down, the Republic Star Destroyers change targets to the Imperial SDs. The Scythes and Coronas move down again to further manipulate the Imperial front line, with a Corona waiting to long getting annihilated and a Scythe momentarily losing shields.

Crossfires engage defensively as needed, but avoid enemy corvettes where ever possible. The friendly Nexus Corvettes as well, even engaging other corvettes if it serves to protect the Crossfires and K-Wings. In an unusual move the Endurance class carriers joins the Scythes and Coronas, adding their limited firepower but formidable anti-strikecraft weapons with them into the fray.

With the Imperial fleet in the center now heavily engaged along with its strikecraft, the Warlocks unleash their full firepower, firing hundreds of Concussion missiles against enemy strikecraft and dozens upon dozens of Heavy Concussion missiles at the Executor.

The imperial starfighters sent to investigate are shot down by concussion missiles from a target that seemingly appear out of nowhere only to disappear again. The roughly forty ship reinforcements reform the line into a wide formation, but remain in position.

On the Republic left flank near the moon, the Republic strike force make full use of the tight imperial formation to exploit the lack of space for proper maneuvering, as they strike from target to target inside the Imperial formation, depending on the success attacking further and further in the long Imperial formation from the flank. The Silphens continue firing at will at the most opportune targets, even diverting most energy to weapons.

Even as Imperial ships between the center and the flank starts to turn, due to the Republic strike forces attacked into the flank and not the rear, there remain few if any available targets for them.

As Crossfires and K-Wings engage at will, the Crix shuttles single out any enemy ships that have lost shields and board the Star Destroyers and battlecruisers. Inside the shuttles are the best the Republic have to offer, seasoned veterans, Commandos, Intelligence agents, Advanced combat droids and any and all Jedi remaining either alive or loyal to the Republic.

However, with thirty Imperial wings have appeared out of nowhere, perhaps having teleported out of their hanger bays to meet the "expected" Republic assault, the element of surprise is soon lost for the Republic and while outnumbering the enemy, the Republic suffer higher casualties than expected, loosing an entire wing only a few moments into the engagement.

Though the Paladin has moved closer, it is still in the Sovereign's arc of fire and due to its long body a large target. However, calculations are taking slightly longer than usual due to a glitch in the system. To be expected, the Sovereign is only the third Eclipse-class in existence and was built several centuries after the original pair.

Meanwhile the Armageddon makes use of its five-hundred point-defense lasers, or at least the ones able to factor in, to intercept as many of the proton torpedoes as possible. The Armageddon concentrates its heavy ion cannons and assault concussion missiles on reactors and weapon controls.

Due to the centre being heavily engaged the hypervelocity gun is unable to target the Sovereign's superlaser hardpoint specifically but still able to attack and hit it during a momentary direct-line-of-sight opening, causing the vessel's shields to drop by 33%.

With their noses down the Star Destroyers are still able to bring their full force to bear as the majority of their weaponry is top-side, they maintain their angle and switch targets to the Nebula-class Star Destroyers of the Republic leaving the damaged Scythes and Coronas to the Imperial frigates and the strikecraft. With the Warlocks being at long-range, the Empire has the advantage of knowing in advance about the warheads and is able to take out a lot of them with point-defenses and strikecraft running interception, of course not all of them are stopped and enough strike the Armageddon to decrease its shield strenght by roughly 10%. Ten wings from the Imperial left and right flanks redeploy to the centre to combat the Republic star destroyers and the Paladin.

Speaking of the left flank; a pair of corvettes and four squadrons of Imperial strikecraft is deployed in an extremely wide range to investigate. Half of the left flank breaks formation to encircle the Republic's main force, the other half does move with the flank to avoid creating a gap in the flank. They form an arrowhead.

The right Imperial flank, the Empire is unable to counter the battlecruisers without breaking formation and so they don't. Instead they continue moving forward to encircle the Republic main forces, as they move other ships will come into range to damage the Silphens or collide with them and taking them out that way. In either case, they will eventually break off or continue advancing till their eventual destruction. Provided all goes according to Imperial expectations that is. Imperial strikecraft along with the point-defenses, ion cannons and proton torpedoes of the fleet combat the Republic strikecraft and transports with the ion cannons and proton torpedoes in particular focusing on the slower moving, bigger targets in the Crix transport shuttles. Despite the Republic loosing a wing of their starships, their numbers and concentration make up for it; they are able to inflict massive damage to the right Imperial flank as they advance into it. But obviously less and less the further they go.

The Paladin resumes its engagement of the Executor SSD, continuing its heavy fire on the enemy ships flank as the ships slowly pass each other. Enemy counter fire tests the Mon Calamari shields to the limits, with some effect seeping though and causing minor explosions in various places, albeit nothing critical and mostly absorbed by the armor plating. PDLs target the enemy ACMs on route, but also actively target them as they exit enemy missiles tubes.

The Hyper-velocity gun fires on the Eclipse SSD again with friendly ships making sure to stay out of the way of its firing arc as much as possible.

With the Imperial Star Destroyers switching targets once again, the Scythes and Coronas are now free to engage the enemy counter strike elements, the Scythe is particular is now in a prime position to deal a great amount of damage with the Imperial Star Destroyers having concentrated the majority of the firepower away. Endurance-class carriers, unopposed, continue to project a large area of anti-starfighter of screening for the Scythes, Coronas and some parts of the the rest of the fleet. Providing a "vacum" of Imperial strikecraft, allowing the Republics won starfighters and bombers to protected the rest of the fleet, a critical necessity as enemy reinforcements arrive. Amidst the chaos of the fighting in the center, the Nexus corvettes seek out and make good use of any and all opportunists to raid and interrupt enemy screening formations in joint strikes with Crossfires in an effort to safeguard the Republic Star Destroyers along with the Paladin for as long as possible..

The Warlocks being not-at-long-range and thus not giving the the Imperial as much time to prepare as they may think, continue their concentrated fire on the Executor-class to support the Paladin.

As the Imperials move forward in an attempt to flank on the Republic left flank, they remain opposed by the Republic detached squadrons, still defending the flank even as the Imperials seem to ignore them. In any case the Republic makes good use of the opportunity to continue to weaken the advancing Imperial lines as much as possible, all the while the Republic strike force continue to advance though the same said ranks. Some Republic wings have even started to circle back to make a second pass on some ships.

Suddenly the supposed Republic reinforcements on the Imperial left flank advance rapidly their speed increasing more and more as the ships in question divert all power to engines and forward deflectors.

The Silphens continue advancing, albeit slower to before in order to deal with enemy ships trying to ram them, in unison they focus fire on the ships trying to ram one by one, but still targeting different vessels when necessary.

As the Imperials soon find it out, the Crix-class assault shuttles are more than up to the task of dealing with the Proton and ion weapons, as they are well shielded and armored and not as slow as one might expect. Having suffered far fewer casualties than expected, there are successful boarding all over the Imperial right flank, or the half furthest to the right at least. But the boarding parties don't try to take over the ship or destroy it, instead they rush to the weapon control systems taking them over and turning them on other Imperial ships, all squads having encrypted transponders to identify why ships have friendly boarding parties and which haven't. If the Imperial right flank wasn't chaotic enough, it sure was now.

With the Paladin at broadside distance and its point-defenses focused on countering the assault concussion missiles, the Armageddon is able to send over boarders in boarding pods, assault shuttles and transport shuttles landing in the hanger or breaching hull sections. The first objective of the marines, Stormtroopers and other boarders is to secure a beachhead where possible with brute force.

The Republic's hypervelocity gun strikes the Sovereign once again and brings its shields down to by another 33%, another two volleys should deplete them completely and inflict damage. In response a Star Destroyer is ordered to take position between the Sovereign and the hypervelocity gun. The Sovereign's superlaser has finally been recalibrated and fires at an Endurance-class.

It seems Imperial damage teams miscalculated the proximity and damage inflicted by the Warlocks, the Armageddon's shield had dropped by 20% rather than the ten previously believed. Provided the Warlocks aren't positioned by any anti-starfighter capital ships, ten of the reinforcing wings are sent to disable them. If they are defended then these wings join the rest in the screening of the Imperial fleet in the centre and the assault on the Paladin, leaving the Imperial frigates to deal with the Scythes and Coronas on their own. Imperial corvettes and starfighters combat their Republic counterparts for local starfighter superiority.

Although the Imperial right flank has taken damage, there is no Republic second pass on account of their vessels running out of anti-capital payloads and by now the two Republic battlecruisers should be destroyed since there are just two of them and an entire flank of Imperial warships to deal with, it would be impossible to stop all of them from ramming as they moved forward and the Silphens moved into their path, even if the Silphens destroyed the offending warships the explosion would send debris forward which would do at least some damage. However, these prediction is made by Imperial damage teams whom have shown to be unreliable so for all we know the Republic could have enough in their cargo for another run. That said, Imperial corvettes are finally deployed back to counter them for being a continued bother. All bombers within the rapidly decreasing wings of the Imperial right flank are sent to overwhelm and destroy the Silphens, just in case.

Noticing the pattern of the Imperial boarding teams and considering the distance between hanger and weapon control systems, many star destroyers lock down vast sections in order to slow down, contain, cut off or otherwise counter the boarders. Areas are vented to the vacuum of space, ambushes are placed everywhere, controls of weaponry are overriden and slaved to other areas such as the bridge, reactor or engine rooms. While the Republic succeeds in accomplishing their task several times, they meet opposition every step of the way and their succes rate diminishes.

The portion of the Imperial left flank facing the presumed Republic reinforcements widen their formation, spool turbolasers, power their forward shielding and commence firing their forward, long-range weaponry. The starships sent to investigate should be able to report on the nature of these Republic ships, a theory is that they are demolition ships sent to suicide into the left flank. But who can trust what Imperial damage team says when they were wrong about the Warlocks. However, should this theory be correct the Imperials will gladly sacrifice several corvettes and frigates to protect their larger ships.

Finally the Imperial left and right flanks begin to meet with the Republic's warships in the centre and the Republic left. Though their strikecraft are already deployed the firepower of the navy is unleashed upon the Republic's warships; star destroyers, cruisers and battlecruisers concentrate their weapons on opposing Nebula, Scythe and Endurance-class ships. The Imperial corvettes (unless indicated otherwise above) hang back with the frigates, waiting for a place to be deployed or for enemy strikecraft.

As the Paladin continue to engage to Executor-class, marines are sent to meet the boarding parties in an effort to force them off the ship. Enemy boarding parties in the hangers are meet not only by marines, but also automated defense turrets that proceed to tear them apart. The Paladin have now moved slightly past the SSD, some of its weapons being able to hit the rear of the Eclipse. The Hyper-velocity gun hits the enemy Star Destroyer as the Eclipse turns an Endurance to dust.

The Warlocks continue to fire from slight behind the Republic front, in the center, unhindered. Republic Starfighter wings remain on the Defensive along with the Corvettes, in order to conserve forces they seize raiding out, even when good targets presents themselves in order to combat the increasing amount of Imperial strikecraft. Despite their best efforts, some Imperial strikecraft start to break through, especially on the flanks, but for now not enough to make an impact.
Despite being made for anti-starfighter screening, Imperial odds means the destruction of several corvettes.

With the enemy fleet starting to completely encircle the Republic forces, the defenses begin to crumble faster and faster as more and more ships suffer critical damage and/or destruction.

Through some kind of sensor malfunction, the Silphens engaged with the rear of the Imperial right flank somehow finds themselves going through the Imperial battleline instead of firing from the sidelines as they thought they were and are thus unable to counter Imperial ramming tactics successfully, both Silphens going down in quick succession. As they are destroyed, Republic efforts on the flank goes from unfavorable to suicidal and Republic startfighter and bomber losses increase ten-fold, especially as they have seemingly also run out of ammunition despite the pilots being sure there was more they could do. Alas, Republic pilots are not capable of being conservative with the weaponry.

Having made sure to board Imperial weapons-control points as closely as possible, locking down areas or blocking route access only have an effect on the few boarding teams being forced to access enemy ships further away. The same goes for Imperial ambushes, after all you can't ambush someone already having reached their destination. Where ever the Imperial try and regain access to their control centers, Republic teams cut all lines going to the bridge and attempts to continue their operations as long as possible, even as more and more of their fellow boarding teams goes silent.

Unable to hide the nature of the supposed Republic reinforcements, Imperial sensors show them to be empty civilian transports, piloted by droids, with a very limited arsenal attached to them. Few, if any of the ships even reach the Imperial lines, nor where they meant to.

The Star Destroyer hit by the Hypervelocity gun performs well as a shield for the Sovereign, it is able to replenish its shields to an extent but it is still below half its full capacity. As for the Star Destroyer, it is badly damaged and another blow will annihilate it. The Sovereign begins to charge another attack with its superlaser and when the Paladin advances past the Armageddon its attack is met by a counter attack by the Sovereign's rearmost weaponry, in addition it is still fighting the Armageddon and several wings of strikecraft on the outside and boarders on the inside. The Imperial boarding parties are met with stiff resistance in the hangers but the other breaching points made along the hull do better and will attempt to clear out the hanger.

More of the Imperial armada enters range to fight the Republic's starships, tightening the snare and fairly soon the escape path back to the planet will be cut off entirely. The Warlocks are beset upon from the sides by corvettes, cruisers and the occassional star destroyer.

On the Imperial right, the flank has taken an immense beating but is able to reform somewhat with the battlecruisers and majority of the enemy strikecraft wings taken care of. The greatest problem remaining is the friendly-fire inflicted by the Republic boarders, several captains opt to cut power to the weapons control. This effectively leaves a good amount of Imperial warships without any teeth. Several more senior officers realizing that rooting out the battle-hardened Republic soldiers out of the control center will be difficult even with the home field advantage decide to seal off the centers and vent the oxygen, which is a garantueed method to kill the Republic troops... Provided they didn't leave the room for a few hours.

Having discovered the true nature of the Republic reinforcements a detachment of ships led by three star destroyers, assorted escorts and compliment is sent to annihilate the force while the rest reforms with the main Imperial left flank.

Some of the officers around the table cannot help showing their disappointments with the current results of the battle. "70%" One of the officers mutters to himself It was the Republics finest dying, the men and material being lost was utterly irreplaceable at this stage.

"Gentlemen, we were always going to lose the fight, there is nothing left to do that die fighting, to die trying, to die killing as many Imperial pigs as we can. All that has transpired here today was expected. Even this." Malan proclaims as he throws the datapad onto the table in front of them.

The Republic fleet reforms its defensive perimeter into a circle, all remaining Scythes, Coronas and Endurances ceasing their attack and returning back behind the Nebulas still standing, leaving behind a few ships to cover the retreat. The last few Endurances position themselves near the Warlocks, while the Coronas and Scythes moves to the rear and flanks to defend the rest of the fleet, be it only for a few moments. Once a perimeter have been formed, a general abandon ship order is given to crews having already been prepared for it as thousands already stand ready at the escape pods.

The Paladin begins to turn around, bringing its forward weapons to bear on the Eclipse, the rest still firing on what would be the rear section of the Executor. Just as it manages to complete its turns, the rear shields give out and enemy ships begin to tear the engines sections apart. Secondary explosions occur throughout the ships.

Before long, hundreds of escape pods leave the fleet, moving towards the planet, with the last few wings of starfighters covering them from enemy interception, almost all of them giving their lives in the process. Even as this occur, the final part of Phase III commences, teams made of volunteers and droids direct all ships on collision courses with the nearest Imperial vessel, the Nebulas in the front all target the Executor and the Eclipse, most of them the Executor as it is closest.

On the Paladin, no order to abandon ship is given as it is on its own and surrounded. No escape pods are expected to survive anyway so most of the crew stays and hope for a miracle.

On the surface of Dac, in the now evacuated city of New Calamara, Malan goes outside the Command Center and looks up in the sky, where the flashes of large explosions can be seen clearly on the early morning hours.

The NIO returns. "Phase III have commenced sir."

"I'm not blind." he says in a patronizing tone and points up in the sky.

"Activate the shield array and begin preliminary deployment of the army." He orders before going inside again.

The Sovereign fires its superlaser and is finally able to release its full arsenal on the closing Republic star destroyers; but it not enough to stop all of them and several collide with the Imperial dreadnought stripping its shields and causing massive hull damage across several areas. In the end the Sovereign is still combat worthy and the vessel is not in a critical state. The warship begins to turn to face the Paladin, the Armageddon is ordered to lower its plane. The Armageddon was already damaged heavily and had begun to descend regardless of orders, finally the stress on the superstructure proves too much as the Republic suicide attack causes the mighty dreadnought to break apart.

The Imperial fleet is shaken; while a lot of Republic vessels are destroyed before their ramming attacks the majority make it through destroying a handful of Imperial warships and critically damaging many others. Only a select few were able to shrug off the assault with comparatively light damage. The proud armada of the Empire was rattled and reduced in size.

Now only the Paladin remained and Imperial warships that weren't in a critical state along with whatever spare strikecraft were ordered to assault the Republic flagship. Meanwhile, the boarders presumably were finally gaining ground and secured beachheads. From there they would go for the nearest key areas of the Republic dreadnought and inflict as much damage as possible, be in on the ship itself or its crew itself.

Before long the Paladin lose primary power to most systems and the shields fail completely, combined with total annihilation of the engine section, explosions ripple through major sections of the ship. The ship begins to come part under the stress of the firepower of the Imperial Armada.

Moments after, a massive explosion from the hypermatter reactor vaporizes most of the ship.

On the surface, a moment of silence is given in respect of the ship and her crew.

The Imperial Armada finally catches its breath, conducting repairs and reforming itself into a proper defensive position. Recovery operations are conducted on destroyed Imperial warships to save crewmen who escaped and capture important Republic officers, regular Republic troops are simply executed on sight.

Ground forces are readied for a full-scale planetary assault. In preparation and as a bit of vengeance; the Imperial fleet begins to bombard Mon Calamari and the city, shielded though it may be. Their intention is to damage the surrounding area, demoralize the enemy and more importantly vent some steam at the loss of the Armageddon.

Meanwhile on the Sovereign; an Imperial officer requests permission from Grand Admiral zi Starkroße to fire the superlaser on the Republic-held city and finish the war once and for all.

"This may very well be the last ever war in the galaxy, savour it ensign. The superlaser can always be deployed later, if by some miracle the Republic is able to fend off our assault."

The reality began to sink in, this was really it. Without the Republic, without the Mandalorians, the Enclave, the Chiss or anyone else there would be no enemies, no bloodshed or struggles. Despicable and nightmarish peace.

Forces for the ground portion of the battle were launched in waves; fighters first to clear out the skies of hostile air units and to terrorize the enemy with air strikes but more importantly to act as distractions for Republic anti-air, the next wave consisted of bombers send to take out key installations and to soften up fortifications for troop landings.

While the fighters were given free reign to move far and wide if they deemed it necessary, the bombers were far more restricted. With the exception of a select squadrons that were allowed to roam the city and wreak havoc as they saw fit, the majority of Imperial bomber forces were restricted to the outer sections of the Mon Calamari city with fighter escort. The bombers operated from west to south were instructed to level buildings if need be to clear out the enemy or provide a larger landing site for troops.

Finally the third wave began to be deployed; this wave consisted exclusively of Imperial infantry, stormtroopers and variations of stormtroopers. Their shuttles would unload them rapidly via landing rampart or let the soldiers rappel down. Shuttle weapons were trained on any crevice that could conceal anything that wasn't Imperial in nature.

As soon as the Imperial Starfighters approach the outskirts of the city, they face direct fire from numerous gun emplacements scattered around the city, in the streets and in the buildings. Considering how targets of value are in and between the buildings, it forces the Imperial Starfighters into the pre-arranged firing arcs creating killzones over certain areas of the city where the buildings are lowest.

Only when the bombers reveal themselves does the Republic AA vehicles, starting with using its specialized Mass Driver cannons. Missiles are used to either destroy or disband the fighter escorts, making sure the already restricted bombers are blown out of the sky.

Any starfighters and bombers that actually makes it past the AA defenses and goes in between the taller buildings are torn apart or violently sent spinning into the ground as they hit barely visible metal wires stretched between the buildings, like flies finding their way to a spiders web.

As the shuttles carrying troops are also soon under fire from the many gun emplacements around the city, small squads deployed through the city outskirts with rockets launchers, the moment shuttles start to land or stormtroopers rappel down, they open fire as their targets stops moving. The stormtroppers that manage to get on the ground are soon under sniper fire.

Strikecraft become more and more restricted as Imperial numbers begin to dwindle. The squadrons are mostly deployed in the west, south and the area between those two cardinal directions.

Starfighters are instructed to do what they must to counter the Republic as they can; divine wind tactics are not only approved but recommended. Similarly, bombers are suggested to follow divine wind tactics once their ordnance has been used up. The bombers deploy their payloads everywhere indiscriminately to kill Republic soldiers, citizens, defenses and buildings even if Imperial infantry gets caught in the crossfire. The area is to be leveled.

For every squadron of strikecraft lost, another one is sent to replace it. Though, the Imperial armada has suffered grievous losses to its complement and is now running dangerously low.

Infantry shuttles use their weaponry to flush out Republic defenders and cover the Stormtroopers as they attempt to land but they are met with stiff resistance. It's almost as if the Republic's troops are fighting for lives in some sort of final stand. Imperial infantry that manages to get on the ground toss out thermal detonators and smoke grenades to suppress Republic defenders and to obscure the line of sight of the enemy.

The Republic keeps up its fierce AA screening, however vanguard forces begin to slowly withdraw as more and more stormtroopers get on the ground and due to the friendly AA coverage being lighter in the outskirts of the city than elsewhere. They suffer some casualties due to the bombers clearing areas in the outskirts. Soon after the landing zones are hit by mortar fire from AT-AEs further back, as they cover the retreating forces, which then set up with the AT-AEs to form a defense behind some light barricades on the major paths into the city.

As the battle slowly progress, Malan have moved to one of the forward command posts to directly oversee the organisation of the defense.

The Stormtroopers and other Imperial infantry sweep outward and secure areas around the landing sites even as the AT-AEs pummel them from afar. Portable mortar systems are used to counteract the AT-AEs and though they are not as powerful as that of the walker, they are slightly more numerous.

The Republic is able to inflict terrible casualties but the Empire simply sends in more men to the meat grinder, they are legion.

As more of the area is cleared the amount of anti-air ordnance is lowered as well. All strikecraft are recalled to move out of range for the time being but remain close enough to go back into action if necessary.

The Republic prepares for the oncoming Imperial offensive by digging in. As the skies clear of hostiles, AA positions begin to move around to avoid them being too easily spotted or pinned down. The enemy mortar fire have a limited effect thanks to the buildings being denser and higher the further into the city they are fired.

Unlike the Empire, the Republic is likely more concerned with preserving the buildings and their precious cover. As such, just as the Imperial infantry cannot hit them, there is a limited direction the Republic mortars can fire from.

As the area surrounding the landing sites is placed firmly under control of the Empire a wave of vehicles is sent down, escorted by strikecraft the final stretch of the way. Bipedal armoured walkers are deployed, towering over the infantry. These all terrain walkers are equipped with equipped with a chin-mounted, double blaster cannon, a light E-web twin blaster cannon on the port side, a concussion grenade launcher on the starboard side of its head. Despite being able to rotate some, the vehicle obviously had a glaring weakness in its absurdly wide blind spots.

Alongside the bipedal walkers were similarly sized quadruped walkers with a single long heavy turbolaser cannon. Long-range artillery was out of the question due to the city shield, instead the cannons were aimed at a lower angle and began shelling buildings. The bipedal walkers joined them with their laser cannons and grenade launchers. Any building or facility over two floors in size was designated as an obstacle to be cut down to a more manageable size.

The closest Republic positions hunker down, content with the current mortar slugging match. As more Imperial forces get on the ground, several companies are sent to the outer perimeter to increase the strength of the defense. They bring with them anti-vehicles weapons and heavy repeaters. As walkers close in to help demolish buildings, anti-vehicle teams open fire.

Realizing the error of the walker deployment quickly, fatally for a few of them, they fall back. If their weapons don't have enough range they'd stay out of it.

The Empire wasn't keen on budging from its position and continued its barrage for the day and to midnight. During the day the infantry set up their makeshift bases, operations centres, outposts, lookouts, patrols, defenses and other infrastructure. Supplying the troops on the ground was done via an air corridor the Empire had designated, shuttles moved with strikecraft escorts. Fatigue set in as only a quarter of all forces operating on the ground were allowed to rest at a time, operating on a minimum of between five to seven hours of sleep. Imperial command seemed to insist on this so as not to provide the Republic with any sort of reprieve, even if it hurt the Empire more than the Republic.

Meanwhile in the armada the crews of the fleet and the other ground forces were counting their stars lucky, safe for the select units that were placed on stand-by to shuttle planet side quickly to replace wiped out formations.

Among the waking crew was the Grand Admiral who stood by, eyes glued to a holographic representation of the siege. Every now and then she would look out the observation deck to look at the slowly growing ball of orange or flick through images the scouts took. The ruin, the death and brutality were things of beauty. If she was even a bit artistically inclined one could consider Mon Calamari to be her canvas, the blood and limbs strewn about amid a decimated city engulfed in a colossal flame sea would be her magnum opus. Yet, the urge to simply flick the switch and annihilate the area with the Sovereign was growing more and more powerful by every passing minute. Simply put, there wasn't enough death to attain joy and satisfaction.

Occasionally a scout on a speeder bike would probe the Republic lines only to get gunned down by their heavy repeaters, anti-vehicle weapons and whatever else the Republic had prepared. The farther a scout got before their demise, the weaker the Republic defenses were in that area was the general consensus held by the Imperials. Whether this theory would hold up will be seen soon.

Then, at midnight, the Empire decided to make its move.

The artillery ceased its bombardment and a minor charge of speeders, infantry and a handful of walkers began, this assault didn't contain enough forces to break the Republic's defenses, or what remained after the day long barrage, but then again it was only meant to rattle the defenders in advance of the true attack. Bipedal walkers were deployed along with the infantry, four squads surrounding a handful of walkers. One squad would march ahead, two squads on the flanks to safeguard against sneak attacks and a rearguard to back up the frontline if needed. Should the frontline infantry squad stumble across defenders they will signal the walkers to move up and attack with them.

The light defenses and barricades having been obliterated during the evening, however the defenders remained committed to the defense and holds on the best they can. As soon as the artillery barrage seizes they know the attack is coming and get ready, laying dawn suppression fire and continuing mortar fire. AT-AEs bolster the defense and helps out in dealing with enemy walkers.

At the forward command post, Malan begins to prepare the primary line of defense, moving battalions, companies and squads into place. Even as he completes his efforts he starts to wonder it even matters, even if they won the battle a hundred times, they would still be trapped and at the mercy of the Imperial fleet. To keep up appearances and inspire confidence in his men he quickly pushed his thoughts aside before it showed and continued to coordinate his efforts.

He quickly ***** the situation at the front. This defense was never meant to hold for long and they wouldn't, not after the bombardment they had just suffered through. Luckily, they had already served their purpose, the delay the Imperials although they themselves had done that by bombarding for so long. So he gave the order.

Full retreat back to the main line.

At the front the infantry begins to retreat carefully with the walkers covering them. Snipers from far away seeks to further delay Imperial troops trying to take advantage of the situation.

If the charge managed to break through it would continue on to decimate as much of the routing Republic soldiers as possible, ignoring their own substantial losses. The true assault that was sent began to pick up the pace, double march. The fatigue due to a lack of sleep and the double march would leave this wave extremely easy to repulse.

With the camps are becoming more and more emptied as the attack has commenced, more forces are sent down. For now, infantry and walkers of the same kind that was already on the ground. These well rested forces would form the second wave. They set out at a normal pace.

Meanwhile, scouting forces are deployed to the north and eastern edges of the city. It is speculated that with Imperial assault pressing hard on the defenders, pushing deeper into the city, that the Republic has chosen to abandon other areas. The scouts were sent to confirm this and check for potential traps left behind.

Managing to conduct an orderly retreat back to the primary line, the Republic forces suffer only moderate losses thanks to the sacrifice of at AT-AE crewmen and their vehicles covering the retreating forces.

From across the city, especially the southern and western areas, snipers, AA and AT weapons teams return back from their multiple positions to join in on the defense. Among them are around a hundred engineers.

At the primary line, attacking Imperial forces are finally in range of the Republic MAC vehicles, which open fire with their devastating heavy artillery rounds. AT-TEs behind the barricades thrown in fire support as well in a dual anti.infantry and anti-vehicle role thanks to its plenty forward facing weapons. Troopers across the perimeter get up from behind cover to target anything ahead of them that moves, well knowing they risk hitting stragglers from their own vanguard forces.

Reserve companies from up a little further behind the lines.

The Imperial scouting forces to manage to confirm lighter defenses. At least in the outer areas. The scouting parties have not all gone unnoticed however, and some are pinned by sniper fire and reported in.

Its not long before Malan gets the first report."They are too late in that regard. However send some small teams the patrol in front on the primary barricades. If they move just an inch to close, I want to know about it before they come knocking on the front door." he tells the officer bringing him the report."

"Yes sir." he says and is dismissed to continue his duties.

"Hey you" Malan says and points at a trooper. "Go make sure the lookouts know to inform me the second the Imperial artillery moves from their current position!."

The initial charge is practically broken with some units turning back and regrouping with the first wave and others simply pushing forward, trying to inflict as much damage upon the Republic as possible before they themselves are cut down the numerically superior and heavily fortified defenders.

Before long the fatigued first wave makes contact with the Republic's primary defensive line, the second wave still a ways off should join them eventually but even with their combined might it was unlikely they could penetrate the defenses of the Republic. The infantry and bipedal walkers were outgunned by the AT-TEs and MACs. The forces were ordered to climb up on whatever building remained and use infantry weaponry, mortars and missile launchers, to damage the Republic position. Officers on the frontline were told to spot targets for the artillery and call in a trial barrage, in all likelihood the shield ceiling was too low for the artillery's shells to curve properly.

After the trail barrage the artillery will either begin to shell the Republic's defenses if they can or move up until they reach a position from which they can.

Noting the retreat of a sizeable engineering corps the scouting forces, the ones not pinned down that is, move in to harass the engineers and cut down their numbers best they could. Meanwhile, six Imperial strikecraft squads are deployed to assist the pinned scouts. Three for both cardinal directions.

Although the Republic has a very powerful anti-vehicle artillery platform it was decided to deploy heavier walkers regardless. Not only would these quadruped walkers be deployed in the original western and southern landing sites but also in the northern and eastern areas after another handful of Stormtrooper squads are shuttled down to secure it. This four-legged walker was bulky and ridiculously slow but it compensated it with immense firepower and armour plating comparable to smaller capital ships. It was armed with a double laser cannon on a hump upon its back, a single laser cannon beneath its cockpit head and another single laser cannon on either flank of the behemoth platform. This heavy walker functioned as a siege platform, self-propelled artillery unit and infantry transport capable of holding sixty Stormtroopers but it obviously had its weaknesses.

Its legs were not upgraded and relatively weak, barely attuned to carry its heavy weight. Despite the guns on its flanks the heavy walker still had a large blindside at its rear.

As the Imperials reqroup and then continue the attack, massive and numerous detonations occur throughout the outer areas of the city. After the deafening thunder of explosions, a distorted symphony of metal bending and breaking followed with the sound of water rushing forewarns of what is happening. All over the outer areas of the city where the Imperial landing zones and staging grounds are located, massive chucks of the city breaks apart as starts to rapidly sink.

The Engineers having worked day and night to place explosives at almost all the structural weak points in the outer city and sealing off underwater areas that may flood the rest of the city, their work now comes to fruition. Any transports, troops or vehicles in the outer areas find themselves pulled down with the chucks of the city, some as large as an entire block, into the oceanic depths.

Across the main barricades, to time is wasted watching the not so distant buildings sink below the horizon. A counter charge is commenced immediately with the reserves rushing over the barricades, supported by the artillery with a creeping barrage to cover their rapid advance.

Previous having been hidden away, on the largest roads A7 Juggernauts and on the maller, TX130 Fighter tanks, join them, with the AT-TE's taking up the rear due to being slower than the rest.

From the center of the city comes previous grounded Snowbirds and MAATs to support where necessary. Lending their firepower to the counterattack.

A sudden rapture of elation washed over the Grand Admiral, an all encompassing typhoon filled her with joy. It was as if the very universe had heard her pleas and answered her heart's greatest desire.

Roughly half of the Republic city, more or less, sank to the bottom of the ocean, with it the vast majority of Imperial forces that were on the planet leaving only severely depleted men and their ineffectual vehicles to face a massive Republic counterattack. They were about to be decimated, cut to shreds like animals by the hatred of the Republic. The death toll was catastrophic; painful, tragic, beautiful and full of colour. She couldn't help but laugh manically at the sight of entire units being lost, swallowed by the sea or pushed into it by the counterattack. This was it, a vicious battle to end it all against an enemy who had nothing to lose, who was pushed up against the wall and whose hatred and anger would incinerate a thousand men for every one of theirs lost. Falkyria wiped away a tear of joy and returned to the battle.

All heavy vehicles; the quadruped walkers and artillery, had been lost. Only the bipedal walkers and speeder bikes remained.

The handful of troops that remained were instructed to cease their assault and regroup at the newly created outskirts of the now smaller city. Due to the suddenness of the Republic's daring sacrificial tactic the communications network was overloaded with terror, causing rampant miscommunications which led to mix ups in orders. Of the handful of Imperial soldiers that survived, even less managed to receive the proper instructions to retreat and secure the area for further reinforcements. The Empire was about to loose their foothold on the planet.

Imperial starfighters engaged the Republic snowbirds and gunships, leaving the bombers to take out the large and mobile ground vehicles. The bombers prioritize nearest and biggest vehicles relative to friendly ground units. Shuttles and gunships carrying additional forces were already inbound; these units consisted of infantry, the light bipedal walkers and finally the artillery units. While the Stormtroopers had been on stand-by, the mechanized pilots were slightly groggy having only recently been woken up for battle.

Before the battle of Mon Calamari had begun; the Grand Admiral had requested that some of the Imperial forces be outfitted with aquatic gear, having expected there to be some fighting in the oceans. These specialized infantry units were now called in to recover friendly forces stuck in the submerged parts of the city. However, Imperial maritime warships and vehicles weren't deployed just yet.

Snowbirds accept the challenge of the Imperial Starfighters, fiercely defending the skies above the remaining parts of the city. Some of them are on the duty of defending the MAATs assaulting the remaining Imperial forces. With the Imperial reinforcements being forced to land much closer, Republic FAAVs have a field day with the enemy shuttles, but are somewhat hindered by the friendlies.

Undaunted, Republic forces continue their assault, insistent on pushing every last Imperial soldier into the sea.

All around him, the other officers and Malans advisors cheer as the holotable show just how succes their plan was, but Malan knew. This, while an admirable victory, would only provoke more drastic measures by the Imperials.

The Snowbirds easily gain the upper hand on the outnumbered, beleaguered and battle-damaged Imperial starfighters. But they've served their purpose. Similarly, the bombers are doing a number on Republic vehicles mainly because hostile anti-air has wisely chosen to focus on starfighters and shuttles. Once their payloads are extended the bombercraft are sent on a collision course.

Imperial forces are losing ground to the Republic fast, the amount of Stormtroopers and walkers that remained pinned and separated could almost be counted on hand. Their backs were up against the wall or the abyss of the sea.

The reinforcements on board of the shuttles and gunships lower their level to beneath the anti-air of the Republic, practically surfing over the water and at the last moment before crashing into the Calamari city they ascend and deploy their troops, scattering Republic infantry with their transport weapons. Infantry carrying repeaters and missile launchers engage infantry and vehicles, ground and airborne respectively. While the bipedal walkers have free-range of ground-based targets with their repeaters and grenade launchers for light vehicles. This leaves the artillery walker to engage heavier vehicles, firing its weapons horizontally if they have to practically like a field cannon. The Empire is desperately clinging to the "cliffs" of the city.

Aquatic forces recover what friendlies they can, sending them back to the fleet.

Meanwhile another and larger group of transports is sent opposite the carnage; among them are colossal barges brimming with weaponry. Clearly the Empire intends to open up another front on the Republic.

Republic artillery continue the creeping barrage firing just in front of the advance, on occasion causing some friendly fire but it being well worth it in order to soften up any makeshift Imperial defenses and cover for the still advancing forces. Imperial bombers do inflict moderate damage, taking out over a dozen vehicles at least, through their bombing run and subsequent suicide attacks.

As Imperial shuttles and gunships attempt to evade the AA, AT-TE crews see their opportunity to engage the low hanging shuttles as they are deploying troops or just about to.

Some of the vanguard troops closest to the main groups of imperial forces takes cover where possible are starts to set up positions from which they can more effectively engage the enemy and cover the rest of the republic forces still charging.

The MAATs launch the missiles on mass, targeting Imperial walkers and artillery thanks to having relatively free reign. Their anti-infantry turrets carve stormtroopers into pieces below as they fly over Imperial positions.

As its reported in that more Imperial forces are being deployed to the less contest areas of the city, the troopers stationed there on the main barricades are made aware that they need to prepare for the defense of their sector.

The Imperial barges settle in the water and drop the sea-based vehicles; frigates, fast vessels with basic energy weaponry and capable of detecting submersibles. Destroyers, quick with dedicated anti-hull weaponry and basic anti-air flak. Finally, cruisers with devastating artillery at extreme ranges and powerful surface to air missiles for anti-air defenses.

These naval ships stayed at range, not to risk getting hull damage by brushing against the wreckage of the city in the shallow waters. With luck they would be inside the shields. The nine frigates and six destroyers form a protective ring around the five cruisers, these Imperial cruisers open fire on the Republic's defensive positions giving the shuttles and other transports a chance to land on the edge of the city. With the Republic focused on destroying the now doomed Imperials on the other side of the city, these forces should have a much easier time.

As Republic forces are still cleaning up Imperial remnants, Malan begins to reorganize immediately, especially the AA and Artillery as Snowbirds continue to secure the skies and the shuttles are withdrawn.

While the Republic had far from taken as many losses as the Imperials, the losses big enough for concern among the officers, but they refused to show any hint of indecisiveness or doubt and aided in the re-organization and/or mob up of Imperial forces near the original landing zones.

At the same time as the Imperial forces begin to bombard the main line in other sectors and deploy troops, some have caught a ride on the shuttles back towards the inner city the reinforce the defenders. The faster moving vehicles also turn around and redeploy.

With a head start the Imperial forces are able to land; infantry, engineers, bipedal and artillery walkers and speeder bikes. The speeders, bipedal walkers and several Stormtrooper groups are sent ahead to delay the Republic while the engineers brace the position so that more and heavier forces can deploy.

With the MAATs inbound the Imperial warships launch their surface-to-air missiles to intercept the hostile gunships.

Needless to say, the cruisers ceased their barrage temporarily so that friendlies are not affected.

The defenders welcome the Imperials with a wall of blaster from behind their defenses. With the enemy having shelled the positions much less this time, many of the taller buildings still stand and the MAATs have little issue avoiding the surface-to-air missiles by flying between the buildings and landing behind them near the main lines, unloading the reinforcements.

At the same time Republic speeders arrive and engage the Imperial speeders and stormtroopers, swooping over the barricades on pre-placed ramps. Had they only had lances, the battle would have been almost archaic in nature, alas blasters had to sufice along with PATs dropped from the back of the speeder to spread confusion and chaos among the Imperial attackers.

Malan stood silently watching a closed up holo of the Imperial maritime warships. He would readily admit it was something he did not expect from the Imperials. If anything he had expected an attack from below the city, so much so that he had prepared extensively for it. Seemed all the preparation may end up going to waste, he thought to himself. It wasn't long before a wry smile appeared. Perhaps not a waste... entirely.

The advance attack does its job to stall the Republic. While they tear apart the haplessly deployed, uncoordinated attack of Stormtroopers, speeders and bipedal walkers. As the numbers begin to dwindle an artillery barrage from the walkers and the cruisers begins to shell the Republic position, regardless of friendly fire.

If the Republic speeders continue to uphold the foolish notion that they are winning they were bound to drive themselves into the readied Imperial position, barricaded and fortified rapidly with prefabricated structures hastily welded together by engineers and reinforced by a seemingly endless supply of soldiers.

By her count, the Republic had decimated three Imperial legions. Some of the aquatic support elements had been deployed but these had suffered no casualties. The Republic however, had free reign over the skies in terms of aircraft safe for Imperial gunships and shuttles. Luckily, the Republic was a pathetic excuse for a nation with laughably weak equipment that would be cut down by Imperial anti-air.

For now, the assault stalled however as the Empire was once again willing to simply shell the Republic position and slowly advance while planting more troops on the surface till there were two once again by the break of dawn. After an entire night of fighting the Empire had, technically, gained no ground. While the Empire barraged the Republic, several Imperial star destroyers were sent to pickup specialized equipment that the Grand Admiral had not thought of in advance.

The Republic speeders suffer heavy casualties and seek cover as fast as they can, even if it means leaving the speeder bikes, leaving most survivors trapped by the constant artillery fire. Soldiers near the barricades take cover in buildings and below the streets and wait out the bombardment. Snowbirds and shuttle are content to leaving the Imperial positions alone and only patrol the skies above the Republic positions.

"Command Unit X56. Are your forces deployed and ready to engage?" Malan inquires through a secured transmission. Not that the Imperials are in a position to react quickly enough anyway.

Its not long before the crew on board the Imperial warships hear a thumping sound from inside as hundreds of KR1 Battledroids climb up the sides of each ship depending on the size. Halfway up, they blow dozens of holes in the ships and board them. Once inside, they start to mercilessly slaughter the lightly armed crewmen and damage every critical systems or component they come across.

Daca crept up on the horizon, casting its light on the crumbling city. The battle began roughly thirteen hours ago and conditions on the ground for the Empire was terrible but stabilizing now that the Republic had backed off and the Imperial shells were keeping them away. In the distance, the slaughter of the Imperial naval force struck a nerve. Some got angry, most became depressed. The Republic had been resisting fiercely, their defenses had claimed the lives of many Imperials.

When an orbital bombardment lit up the stretch of ocean where the Imperial maritime forces were embattled, the reality set in. Every individual was expendable in this twisted game. The bombardment ended after two hours, none of the Imperial crew survived and there was scarcely a trace of the vessels that were there only moments before.

Then came more shuttles and barges; dumping aquatic troopers into the ocean to seek out and eliminate Republic forces beneath the city and seek an entry point from below or a structural weakness to sabotage. The barges however, deployed heavy walkers. Ground forces still refused to move up, insisting on shelling the Republic position.

The loss of the strike force attacking the Imperial maritime force was a blow, but having done nothing would have been an even longer one in the long run. For now, the Republic keep most of its hardware away from the Imperial artillery, but most troops remained dug in behind or near the main defensive line.

The Republic did have some battledroids left, having not been foolish enough to commit all the droids to the attack, but pulled them from the water and had them guard the various sub-city entry points.

After several more hours of bombardment on the planet, the star destroyer that was sent away had finally returned with the equipment deemed critical in the fight against the Republic. This Star Destroyer, along with another one to cover it from Republic reprisal, descended upon the planet nearly a continent away and then made their way towards the city just a few kilometres above the surface.

Provided nothing intercepted them in the mean time or that the Republic launched a counter-offensive through the heavy artillery bombardment, the Star Destroyer would off-load the equipment on barges and shuttles.

Construction of two facilities began immediately, one of which was obviously a generator of sorts.

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Description

She sees stars.

And in this eternity, ashen worlds of ruin and decay, across the galaxy an inferno raging.

After what seemed like decades of war, the Galactic Empire was finally ready to crush the last bastion of the so-called Republic and usher in a new golden age of order and justice in an Imperial galaxy. The rebellious, failed state will be defeated by the largest force gathered in the last century, an armada of over three-hundred warships.

This host is countered by a feeble amount of defenders, sickly and starving. But cornered animals are among the most dangerous and these are the survivors of the Imperial war machine and they have had time to fortify. The Empire may have the numbers but the crews of the majority of the starships are fresh from training, having barely seen the war. They make up their lack of experience in enthusiasm, they will not only witness the dissolution of the Republic but will be actively orchestrating its demise.

The chosen battleground is Mon Calamari, the ancient home of several aquatic aliens and clever ship-builders who have been a thorn, literally, in the side of the Empire for far too long. The system has built thousands upon thousands of war machines which have destroyed the lives of countless Imperials, it has been fortified over the years into an impregnable bastion. A fitting final stand for the Republic murderers.

Arrayed before the forces of the Republic and the network of defenses was the grand fleet of the Empire, with over a thousand strikecraft deployed as a vast swarm skirmishing along the carriers. Dozens of star destroyers trained their weapons systems on Mon Calamari, an oppressive hatred festering within its durasteel hull. At the head of this massive force was the Sovereign, the third Eclipse-class built after its designs were finally recovered and rendered cost-effective after technological advancements. It was flanked by its sistership, the Armageddon, an Executor-class; tried and true.